MN 7 Vatthupama Sutta -The Simile of the Cloth with Delson Armstrong

This is Majjhima Nikaya number 7, the Vatthupama Sutta, the simile of the cloth. Thus have I heard on one occasion, the Blessed One was living at Savatthi in Jetavana, Anathapindika's Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: Bhikkhus. Venerable sir, they replied. The Blessed One said this: Bhikkhus, suppose a cloth were defiled and stained, and the dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or carmine.

It would look poorly dyed and impure in colour. Why is that? Because of the impurity of the cloth. So too, when the mind is defiled, an unhappy destination may be expected. Now here, the generally traditional understanding about a defiled mind leading to an unhappy destination is after death, that it might lead to hell or an animal realm or hungry ghost realm or something like that. But actually, if you think about the way our mind works, and when we look at the world from a certain tint, from a certain shade, from a certain filter, that already is filtering out how we experience existence. So in other words, if I have anger in my mind, then everything I do will have anger in it until I can let go of that anger and that anger subsides. If I have grief in mind, then no matter how happy you are and how happy you know other people are, and no matter what kind of jokes you may crack, I

because in my grief I will listen to it, but I won't really enjoy the joke or I won't be able to participate in the laughter, because my mind is dyed in that way, it is tinted in that way. So what we're talking about here, this is really the main sutta that I used as a reference for the book on bhava, that's the book on becoming, in the series of dependent origination books, because there what we say is we have the three roots, which are greed, hatred and delusion.

And they are there underlying the formations, the sankharas. And when any of these arise, then it is liable to stain the next arising of the link, which is consciousness in this case. So consciousness here can be stained by one or more of some klesha or upakilesha that is dependent on and conditioned by one of these three roots. So we'll see what this all really means.

So we can see this happening even in our present life, when our mind is uplifted, when our mind is free of any kind of craving. In that moment we're able to see, for the most part, very clearly. Perhaps some conceit is there, perhaps some sense of self is still there, but because the mind is uplifted it doesn't take things personally. Generally speaking, it doesn't have all of this emotional charge to it: that he said this to me, or he did that to me, or why did they say it this way, or 10 years ago my parents said this to me and this is how I feel now, or whatever it is that the mind comes up with. Because the mind is uplifted, all of those thoughts don't arise. Any thoughts originating from greed, hatred and delusion, which can taint, which can tint, which can stain, which can defile the next arising of consciousness, can give rise to one or more of the 16 upakilesas, and we'll see what those are.

When that comes up, and if the mind is stained by one of the 16 upakilesas, then it also filters and stains the way in which I see the world around me through the sixth sense basis, from nama-rupa, from mind and body. And when that happens, whatever sensation, whatever thought, whatever feeling, whatever emotion, whatever experience, whatever vedana that arises, is liable to cause some kind of underlying tendency, any of the anusayas. And if my mind has no mindfulness, is not able to recognize what's happening in the here and now in relation to the experience, and that there is an I that is I, me, mine, myself in relation to the experience, then what can happen is craving can take over, clinging can take over, bhava or becoming can take over. But if I can experience everything fully just as it is,

In the experience, there's only the experience. And there's no you, there's no me, mine, myself being shaped or gathered from that experience. Nothing is put on top of the experience as something belonging to me. Then I have clear mindfulness. My mind is undefiled, and therefore whatever the sensation is, pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, whatever the experience is, whatever the thought is, whatever the emotion is, whatever the feeling is, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, will just pass on by through that non-reactivity, which is that sense of vairagya, the viraga, or the dispassion. It says through dispassion his mind is liberated.

So in that moment the mind is liberated, because there's no craving there. In that moment the mind remains clear, pristine, unobstructed, undefiled. So, bhikkhus, what are the imperfections that defile the mind? Covetousness and righteous greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind. In other words, greed, craving, sensual craving. Ill-will, anger, resentment, contempt, insolence, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity, and negligence.

These are all an imperfection that defiles the mind. So these are what are known as the 16 upakilesas. We are familiar with most of them, if not all of them, from our experiences in life. We talk about covetousness and unrighteous greed, right? In fact, let me see if I can go to the note. There are some interesting points in there. Where is it? Here, 87. This is the note here. It says, the commentary offers several tentative distinctions between covetousness and unrighteous greed.

But then it points out that since from the standpoint of the higher training, all greed is unrighteous, the two terms can be understood as merely different names for the same mental factor, greed or lust. So it says here, resentment sets in after anger has repeatedly enveloped the mind. Makes sense. Resentment comes up when we keep thinking about, he said this, why did they do this, why did they do this, right? There's anger that's just boiling, boiling, boiling, and it turns into this very gunky resentment. Contempt is the devaluation of benefits conferred on one by others.

Right? Insolence is presumption arising when one puts oneself at the same level as others who have superior qualities. Envy is resentment over the honours etc. shown to others. Avarice is unwillingness to share one's own possessions with others. Obstinacy is inflexibility, stiffness, rigidity, like a bellows full of fire. Rivalry is attempting to outdo others, the drive to surpass their achievements. So let's go back to the sutta. Some of this has already been defined, but basically what we're saying is, all right, greed. What is greed? Greed is the desire for something because we want it. We get obsessed by it, and it's the craving that arises because we identify with it. We get obsessed by the control of the outcome of how it should be or how it shouldn't be. Ill will. Ill will here is aversion. In that moment somebody is saying something and it triggers me the wrong way, and so I have ill will. But that person, generally when we say ill will, it means that there's a desire to harm, because that person is an obstruction towards a goal,

that person or thing, whatever the situation may be. It's an obstruction to a goal that we desire, and they are in the way of it. And so we are upset, and we want to remove them, and that can lead to us desiring to harm them. Anger. Anger is the boiling point in which things are so difficult and we resist so heavily that we burst out into anger. Resentment is when anger is held for too long, to the point that it becomes part of our being, and anytime we think of that person or that situation or that event, we immediately have this boiling hot and heavy kind of feeling that continues to create resentment in the mind towards that situation or person. Contempt, right? Contempt here is that situation in which the mind feels like it is above others. Yeah, somebody is typing, can you please mute while you're typing.

Contempt is, as I said, that insolence, right? The presumption that you are better than others, or you're equal to a certain level of people, right? And this you can see in some cases outside of the sangha, in terms of bhikkhus: somebody feels like they are better than they actually are, and you can see it on their face, and there's an insolence that's there. Envy, right? I see this all the time with certain students. Wherever I go, they have a certain level of envy about others, and that might arise from insecurity, that might arise from a sense of, I'm not doing well enough, so that person's getting all the praise and I don't like that, and so on and so forth. I remember one time when I was in Bodh Gaya, this was probably in 2022, end of 2022,

and there were two or three monks who had attended the retreat, and I had a chance to speak with one of them, and he was attending the retreat, and he told me he felt upset when people were bowing to others and not to him. And it's just a passing thought that arises, right? And that's the sense of envy. That's the sense of, why do they get the honours and why not me?

And then that envy can result in anger or it could be in suppressed anger that leads to resentment. Avarice, right? This is stinginess. It's where you're not sharing, willing to share with others. You're not willing to be generous with others. Obviously, you know everything comes with common sense but it's about having an open heart it's about having an open heart so that if somebody is in need and needs something we can actually share and of course when it comes to the context of the time of the buddha and with the society of bhikkhus the sangha

Everything was shared amongst everyone else. When something was given to the bhikkhu, just an individual bhikkhu, it was understood that it was given to the entire sangha. Nobody owned anything. Everything was available for everybody else. So avarice gets in the way of that. Deceit: using deceit to trick others, to say something charming, to say something in a way that is causing them to come to your viewpoint. Playing the victim, or hinting at something. And this is actually one of the rules that the monks have. You don't hint at something, because that can create wrong patterns of intention between the bhikkhu and the other person. Right, so there are these certain rules that are there to help dissolve all of these things that can happen in terms of deceit.

Fraud is you're representing yourself a certain way and you're not that, or you're representing somebody else, or somebody else is representing something and you go with it because it's in your best interest to do that. And that's part of fraud. Obstinacy: somebody tells you, hey, maybe you should look at it from this angle, but you say, no, no, I am correct and I know what's right and what's wrong and I know that this is the truth and I won't be flexible to hear another person's viewpoint.

Rivalry. Rivalry is where we say this person is my rival. They are so we feel insecure, and they seem to be better than me or they seem lower than me, and so I have to do better than them. That's the world calls healthy competition, but in the case of the sangha it can be detrimental. I'm actually reminded of Robert Sapolsky, who wrote this book called Behave, among other books. He's by no means necessarily a spiritual practitioner or a Buddhist or anything like that, but when you read the book Behave you see how he actually does understand dependent origination without calling it dependent origination.

In the book he talks about how testosterone builds competition. Somebody asked what would happen if you pump testosterone into the sangha of bhikkhus, what would happen, and he said they would all just be striving to be better than each other in terms of how compassionate they are, how loving and kind they are, how long they can meditate for. So there would be all kinds of things like that. But while that might seem on the outset like that's great and well and good, because you want to have people always having more and more compassion, the intent behind that is, I have to be better than the other person. That creates, and that comes from, conceit. That comes from delusion. And speaking of which, the conceit: there are many different kinds of conceit. In fact, I have a sheet on this.

David could probably share it with you at one point, where we talk about the different kinds of conceit related to the five aggregates, related to the five senses, the six sense spaces, related to the three kinds of feelings, related to gains and loss, related to pain and pleasure, related to fame and ill repute, and all these other things. So conceit, what is that? Conceit is mana. Mana means to measure up. So obviously conceit is very much related to rivalry.

Conceit is the idea that I'm a certain person and this person is another certain person, and they're either better than me or they're not as good as me or they're equal to me. All three are stemming from conceit, and that conceit is stemming from a lack of stability in the world. It's the desire to find something that is stable in an otherwise already unstable world, because if I can go to my security place, my happy place, which would have been in the womb where everything was done for me, I didn't have to do anything. And as soon as I come out of the womb and I'm in this world now, I feel insecure. Who are these people and what's going on there? And then I recognize a familiar smell, a familiar face, or not even a face but a familiar sense. That's the mother. So that gives me security, and so I create my identity around that sense of security. And then that grows outward as I grow up in the world, that I need security, because if I'm a certain way I'll get security.

So the conceit arises: the identification with a certain kind of status, the identification with a certain kind of teaching, the identification with a certain kind of gender, the identification with a certain kind of nationality. All of these are different types of conceit. And then after that we have something called arrogance, ati mana. Ati means it's extreme. It's the highest, it's the purest, it's conceit 2.0. It's the idea that you get this identification and then you are so super identified with it that you cling to that identity. And here the connotation of arrogance in English would be that such a person has pride.

And that is part of it. That is definitely part of it, where you take pride in being an American, or you take pride in being male, female, or binary, or non-binary, or whatever the thing is. You take pride in that. You take pride in being a certain kind of practitioner. You take pride in whatever it is. There's a certain kind of super identification with it. And then vanity. Vanity is, as it rightly says, in terms of the connotation, you become proud of your looks, you become proud of the way you dress, you become proud of the way you walk, you become proud of the way people look at you. Oh, how holy is this person?

How zealous is this person? How wonderful is this person? He holds his bowl in a certain way, let's throw flowers at his feet. This kind of vanity arises. I've seen it for myself with people. And then negligence. This is very interesting, this word negligence, and it, I believe, comes from the word pamada, or pamada, however it's pronounced. Appamada means the lack of negligence, and pamada means negligence. So the Buddha's last words, which he repeated a couple of times, he said: remember all compounded things, sankhata, all sankharas are impermanent, all conditioned things are impermanent. He says this, and he says strive on and be non-negligent, appamada. Be watchful, be mindful, be aware.

So negligence here is an imperfection, and so this is also rooted in ignorance, rooted in delusion. So each of these 16 defilements has its stem from one of the three roots. If you read the book on bhava, on becoming, I go through all of that and you will see how each one stems through whatever. So if you want to be a scholar in this thing you can read that and get an understanding, but more important than understanding that is to recognize it as it arises. Recognize the seed of it as it arises. Recognize the sprouting of it as it arises. Recognize the fruition of it at the experience level, at the level of vedana, when an underlying tendency that is connected with that specific kilesa, upakilesa, arises.

You can think of dependent origination as the stream. It comes and goes, the river. But below the river there are these vortexes, there are these whirlpools, there are all of these things that are happening, these eddies and all of these things. And these are all of the things that are underlying the different links. So the roots of greed, hatred and delusion underlie the formations. The 16 upakilesas can underlie from there the consciousness. And then the anusayas, the seven underlying tendencies, can underlie the sensation, the experience, the emotion, the feeling, the thought, whatever it is that's arising in that present moment. If there is lack of mindfulness, that takes over and projects into, you know, full-blown tanha, which is: I like it, I don't like it, so I want more of it, and obsessed by, I push it or I identify with it and I say this is me, this is who I am. Then from there clinging can arise, and bhava, and so on, becoming.

But then the Buddha says, knowing that greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind, one abandons it. Knowing that ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, insolence, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity, negligence, all of these are imperfections in the mind, one recognizes it and abandons it. That's the right effort: to see it arising and letting it go, see it has already arisen, letting it go, and letting it go, generating a wholesome state and staying with that wholesome state. A mind without any of these things present is already wholesome. This is why the book is called, you know, a mind without craving, because that is the ultimate wholesome state to be in, the ultimate uplifted state to be in. You don't have to do anything after that. That's that space that's there where you have let go and you have relaxed in that space. That is mundane nibbana, the sky-like mind, and that is the utmost wholesome outside of full-blown nibbana. And so what happens when one has known

that greed or any of these imperfections that defile the mind, and has abandoned it, any of these things, he acquires unwavering confidence in the Buddha. How does he acquire unwavering confidence? So the idea here is it's not just any kind of saddha or shraddha, as it's known in Pali and Sanskrit, which is just mere faith. It's of seeing for oneself. When I recognize this particular hindrance, this particular kilesa, this particular upakilesa, this particular underlying tendency, when I recognize this craving, whatever it is, and I let go, I see for myself

that I'm walking the eightfold path, and I see for myself how the four noble truths are present in that moment. There was greed there. Right, there is ill will there. There is anger there. There's resentment there. There's contempt there. It arose, why it ultimately arose, due to ignorance, due to lack of mindfulness. And when I brought my attention back and let go of that, I experienced the cessation of that upakilesa. So that's the third noble truth. How did I experience that? By applying right effort. Call it the 6R's, call it drops, call it the four R's, whatever you want to do, but I applied right effort, which is the encapsulation, the heart of the eightfold path. And so I have experienced for myself what the Buddha has been talking about, the four noble truths in the middle way of the eightfold path. And as I continue to do this, my confidence increases.

My faith, which becomes confidence, increases, and my unwavering confidence increases when I experience stream entry. I see for myself: as I keep letting go, as I keep letting go, all experience ceases, and the mind makes contact with nibbana. And then, coming up from there, the mind lets go of these three fetters. Let go of any kind of doubt, vicikiccha, regarding the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. And we'll see what that means. Now let go of the belief, or intellectual view, in a personal self.

And let go of the obsession or attachment to rites and rituals, because it understands. By doing the practice, I experience nibbana by applying what the Buddha has sent. I experience nibbana, and therefore I experience this unwavering confidence. In the Buddha, thus the Blessed One is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime knower of worlds, incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened, blessed. Now, obviously, when you become a stream enterer you don't necessarily experience it in this way. You don't say by rote all of these things, that he's accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect, and you realize, oh, what the Buddha said makes sense. It's not just theory anymore. So the Buddha, we give credit to the Buddha for having shown us this through these suttas.

Because he's not around anymore, we have unwavering confidence that the Buddha indeed opened up the pathway to this. He acquires unwavering confidence in the Dhamma: thus, the Dhamma is well-proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now, immediately effective, inviting its inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves. Ultimately, the Dhamma is dependent origination.

We see dependent origination. We realize, oh, it is available right here and right now. And we see for ourselves, indeed, what the Buddha has been talking about in terms of craving, in terms of the Four Noble Truths, in terms of dependent origination, in terms of the Eightfold Path, in terms of the jhanas, in terms of right effort, in terms of the 37 requisites for enlightenment, and so on. All of this is indeed well-proclaimed. It's available here and now. It's visible. It's immediately effective. As soon as I recognize and I let go, that's immediately effective. I see for myself that indeed it works. Inviting inspection. Nobody's shoving it down your throats and saying you have to do this. It says, see for yourself.

Right, I think it's ehipassiko. That's the term in Pali: see for yourself, inviting inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves, leads to the supreme enlightenment that is experienced by the wise, the arahants. He acquires unwavering confidence in the Sangha: thus, Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing the good way, practicing the straight way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way. That is the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals.

So here he's referring to the path and fruition of each of the four attainments. But what does that mean? We realize that, oh, this is possible. We have experienced stream entry, so there is the path of that, and then there's the fruition of that. And we see indeed others may claim to have experienced other states, but we see that indeed it is possible, that there is a potentiality for that to happen, and that this Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples are worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world. This is obviously all kinds of things, but basically what it's saying is, when we say the word arahant, arahant really means one who is worthy of

what are they worthy of? Worthy of somebody's generosity. So actually, in some cases, the Buddha has said that if he is not practicing with loving kindness, if he is not practicing the path, then he eats his meal owing a debt to the world. That's, I'm paraphrasing, but this is what he means. But if he has done the work and he has let go of craving, then he eats having helped those who have given to him, because through his mind it has purified the gift, and the merit of that is received by the giver. This is the understanding. But when we talk about the Sangha here, the Sangha is not just the bhikkhus and the bhikkhunis. It's the lay sangha. It's the entire body of the Sangha. There's a word for it that I'm not able to get now, but I think the word is arisa, something like that, but it means the entire collective. So that includes all the people that are faith followers, Dhamma followers, that are awakened by wisdom, cetovimutti, awakened through the eight liberations, the eight jhanas, experience of cessation, the

stream enterers, the sakadagamis, the anagamis and the arahants. All of it, that whole collective, that is the Sangha, and they are all, because we have seen for ourselves practicing the way, that they too are practicing this way. They too are understanding the Eightfold Path. They too are applying the Eightfold Path. So when he has given up, expelled, released, abandoned and relinquished the imperfections of the mind, the upakilesas, in part, in other words not completely: some of the upakilesas can still appear for the stream enterer. Some of the upakilesas can still appear for the sakadagami. Some of the imperfections can still appear for the anagami, in part. Which means he considers thus: I am possessed of the unwavering confidence in the Buddha.

And he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma. He gains gladness connected with him. So he continues to practice, continues to be uplifted, continues to be inspired. And this is so important to understand. This part here, guys, this is gold. If you truly understood this, you will have no problem meditating. What is he saying here? When he is glad, how does the gladness arise?

Through pamojja. Gladness is pamojja. Relief in the Dhamma. Relief that my mind is free of the hindrances, because I am inspired by the Dhamma and I am confident in the Dhamma. And so when he is glad, rapture is born in him. The mind becomes uplifted with piti. In one who is rapturous, the body becomes tranquil, passambhaya. The mind and the body become relaxed. One whose body feels tranquil feels pleasure, sukha, comfort through the body. One who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. It is in samadhi. This is the entire path encapsulated in this, and this is what he is referring to. What I call ariya jhanas, what is sometimes known as tranquil aware jhanas. So the idea is you must have this. You must have the refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. You must have the five precepts, at least.

And when these are taken care of, your mind is automatically uplifted. There are others out there. I'm not meaning to belittle or demean them, but I'm just saying how misguided they are in their approach. They call it something like bliss on demand. What they're doing is trying to create these states. This is actually what's known as miccha samadhi, wrong samadhi. They're trying to create these states. They don't have any emphasis on the realization of the importance of what the Buddha actually represents, the potentiality for awakening, what the Dhamma represents, which is the level of understanding and insight into the nature of reality as dependent origination. What they don't realize is that the Sangha here is there to inspire confidence. There are others inspired to walk this path of the Eightfold Path. So you need the three refuges, the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. You need the precepts, sila, generosity, kindness, compassion.

Once you have this, then your mind is automatically glad. You don't need to do some kind of cacao ceremony, or you don't need to go and do this or that, and then you experience the upliftedness, and then you force yourself to construct an experience of loving kindness, force yourself to construct an experience of piti. That jhana is called anariya, ignoble. The ariya jhana is the noble jhana. That's the jhana that the Buddha is talking about. So it is natural, it is progressive, it progresses naturally.

when the mind is glad when he is glad there is piti in the mind it's not doesn't have to be exuberant it's just the mind is uplifted wow i feel amazing and the body feels relaxed and there's comfort and ease and pleasure throughout And natural samadhi arises, natural collectedness arises, and then the rest, seeing things as they are, the disenchantment and dispassion, and the vimukti, the cessation and liberation of the mind.

So if you don't have these things, and you go on retreat, and they're not talking about these things, then it's safe to say that they don't know what they're talking about, and they misrepresent, if they are representing, they misrepresent the Dhamma, they misrepresent the Buddha. He considers thus, I am possessed of unwavering confidence in the Dhamma. And he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma.

When he is glad, all this is there. When he is glad, rapture is born. Pamojja leads to piti, piti leads to passambhaya or passaddhi. Passaddhi leads to sukha, sukha leads to samadhi. So he considers thus, yes, I do have unwavering confidence in the Dhamma, and he gains inspiration in it. He considers thus, I am possessed of unwavering confidence in the Sangha, and he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. So that gladness leads to the uplifting of the mind, rapture. That rapture leads to tranquility of the body. That tranquility of the body leads to pleasure and comfort, sukha. And that leads to the mind that is collected in samadhi.

So then he considers thus, my mind is free, right? The imperfections of the mind have, in part, been given up, expelled, released, abandoned and relinquished by me. And he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. When he is glad, rapture is born in him. In one who is rapturous, the body becomes tranquil. One whose body is tranquil feels pleasure. And one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes collected.

So, in other words, if you experience the cessation of hindrances, right? You've let go of the hindrances. And how do you let go of the hindrances? Using the 6R's, using right effort. But how do you prevent the arising of further hindrances? By keeping the precepts. Each of the five precepts has an indirect correlation with the hindrances.

And I have seen for myself, people come for consultations to me. They come from certain retreats that are not teaching in this way. And I explain to them about the importance of kindness, of generosity, of sila, of the precepts. And you can see in their face, they're like, this guy's just preaching, like a preacher, just a moral loser, because they just want, what do they want? They just want bliss on demand. They just want happiness on demand. They have relegated this practice to just the practice of pushing a button and firing the neurons that will just give me peace and bliss. That's not how it works. As per this practice, that's not how it works.

Because then it becomes a new addiction, right? It's not the way that the Buddha has laid it out. Because if a bhikkhu of such virtue, such a state of samadhi of collectedness, and such wisdom, sila, samadhi, panna, eats alms food consisting of choice hill rice along with various sauces and curries, even that will be no obstacle for him. In other words, such a person will be free of any kind of sensual desire. They won't be attached to any kind of taste of good food or whatever. Just as a cloth that is defiled and stained becomes pure and bright with the help of clear water, or just as gold becomes pure and bright with the help of a furnace, so too, if a bhikkhu of such virtue, of samadhi, of collectedness, of such wisdom, eats alms food, that will be no obstacle for him, and therefore he abides pervading one quarter

with the mind imbued with love and kindness. Likewise with the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. So above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with the mind imbued with love and kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will. Likewise with compassion. Likewise with mudita, or altruistic joy, with the mind imbued. Likewise with equanimity, right? He pervades one quarter, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. So above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides.

This is very important to understand, actually, now, you guys who do the six directions. Look at what it says: he abides pervading. He doesn't push. He doesn't force. He doesn't feel from his mind that it has to go outward like this, and like this. He abides. He allows it to be there. He allows every aspect of space around him to be suffused with that loving kindness, with that equanimity, with that compassion, with that mudita. He pervades. What does it mean to pervade? Just as there's fragrance pervading the air

It's not a laser that goes in different directions like this. It goes out, and you're just abiding in seeing that happening there. There's an intention, but there's no pushing. So then he understands thus: there is this, there is the inferior, there is a superior, and beyond there is an escape from this whole field of perception. What is he saying? There is this jhana, right? And then there is a superior space.

Or that there is this level of liberation and there is a superior level. If one is a stream-enterer, the job is not yet done. If one is a sakadagami, the job is not yet done. And there is beyond that an escape from this whole field of perception. When he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated. So when he sees and goes beyond the whole field of perception, he is escaped the matrix completely, and he has now seen and known for himself his mind is liberated from sensual desire

from being, existential craving, from the taint of ignorance, lack of mindfulness. When the mind is liberated, there comes the knowledge: it is liberated. That is the knowledge and realization that the mind is liberated. That is the last thing that is there. When you look at the Upanisha Sutta, he understands birth is destroyed. I don't have to continue to deal with the same repetitive patterns. The holy life has been lived. The holy life has been lived. One has practiced and understood what had to be done, has been done. What has to be done, letting go of craving, letting go of ignorance, that has been done. There is no more coming to any state of being

no more coming to any state of existence, because this bhikkhu is called one who bathes with the inner bathing. What? Why did the Buddha use this? Because, as you will see, there is a brahmin and many brahmins who believe that one's sins, one's errors, one's defilements are destroyed when you take a dip into a holy river. So that's why it says, "Now on that occasion, the Brahmin Sundarika Bharadvaja was sitting not far from the Blessed One. And he said to the Blessed One, 'But how does Master Gautama go to the Bahuka river to bathe?'

Why, Brahmin, go to the Bahuka river? What can the Bahuka river do? Master Gautama, the Bahuka river is held by many to give liberation. It is held by many to give merit, and many wash away the evil actions in the river. Then the Blessed One addressed the Brahmin Sundarika Bharadvaja in stanzas. Bhauka and Adhikaka, Gaya, Gaya is actually both Gaya. So Gaya is actually a river. So a lot of people go to Gaya for seeing the tree, but there are other people who go there because there's a river there where they do something known as Tarpanam.

So they satisfy the ancestors by pouring water into... There's a certain ceremony that happens. And when you do that, you're cleansed of your sins and of your karma. So Gaya is also a holy river. The story goes that Gaya was actually the name of a demon who fell, and then that purified the river, and so on. Anyway, Gaya and Sundari Kathu, Hayaga or Prayag, I've been there, Saraswati, which no longer exists now, and the stream Bahumati.

A fool may therefore ever bathe, yet will not purify dark deeds. What can the Sundarika bring to pass? What the Payaga, what the Bahuka? They cannot purify an evildoer, a man who has done cruel and brutal deeds. One pure in heart has evermore the feast of spring, the holy day. This is talking about the Uposatha, you know, or any other day that is holy. One fair in act, one pure in heart, brings his virtue to perfection. It starts with us, starts with our intentions. Notice the intentions and purify the mind by letting go of the unwholesome, the unskillful

and cultivating the wholesome and the skillful it is here brahmin that you should bathe in these wholesome states to make yourself a refuge for all beings so that others may be inspired by you and if you speak no falsehood right don't break the fourth precept not nor work harm for living beings right so you don't uh do the second you don't break the first precept nor take what is offered not don't break the second precept so the first second and fourth here in this case with faith and free from avarice. Of course, we're talking about all precepts.

With faith and free from avarice, free from stinginess, being generous. What need for you to go to Gaya? For any well will be your Gaya. Then when this was said, the Brahmin Sundarika Bharadvaja said, magnificent Master Gautama, magnificent Master Gautama. Master Gautama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown.

Revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. I go to Master Gautama for refuge, and to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of Bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under Master Gautama. I would receive the full admission. So becoming a samanera, and then a full bhikkhu, fully ordained bhikkhu.

And the Brahmin Sundarika Bharadvaja received the going forth under the Blessed One, and he received the full admission. And soon, not long after his full admission, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, the Venerable Bharadvaja, by realizing for himself with direct knowledge, here and now, entered upon and abided in the supreme goal of the holy life, for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness.

He directly knew birth is destroyed. The holy life has been lived. What had to be done has been done. There is no more coming to any state of being. And the Venerable Bharadvaja became one of the arahants. Any questions? Comments, statements? Maybe Delson, you could talk about the differences between these jhanas. I mean, what makes the Arya jhana different from the un-Arya jhana? I mean, I think you mentioned it, but maybe more specifically, what it is. So the un-Arya jhana is born of holding on, creating an experience, creating, constructing, conceptualizing.

It's born of, I need to do this, and it becomes super concentrated, and it goes into, I have to do this, right? The Arya jhana, the noble jhana, is born of letting go. And this is why we see in the case of the first jhana, we say that the mind is secluded from unwholesome states, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, and that the piti that arises, arises born of seclusion.

That seclusion is letting go, letting go, which means you're deconstructing, and what naturally arises is loving kindness. When you're bringing up loving kindness, right? You're using the mind in such a way. This is what I would instruct everybody to do: sit for the first four to five minutes and just watch your mind, and ask yourself, ask the mind, is craving present in my mind right now? Is aversion present in my mind right now? Is sloth and torpor present? Is restlessness present? Is doubt present? And let that go, whatever is arising.

Feel into that, see that, see the pleasure that arises, let go. So the Arya jhanas are collected, right? They're not super concentrated on something. They have the lantern awareness. They're not laser focused. They're relaxed, they're tranquil, and aware, as we've said in the past, at some point. And so the jhanas that are born of, I have to create a state, that's going to take you into temporary states of bliss and concentration, and your mind might feel great for a while, but it's not doing the job of working on a deeper level of letting go of hindrances, letting go of certain formations, tranquilizing formations. It's suppressing.

So that when you come out, you feel wonderful for the first couple of hours, maybe more than that, and then when you're triggered, your state of existence brings anger, brings sadness, brings hatred, brings craving, whatever it is. Whereas when you're talking about the noble jhanas, the jhanas rooted in the Dhamma as the Buddha has discussed it, as a Buddha has expounded it, it's born of letting go. You're deconstructing, and that is what we would call the natural samadhi, samadhi even-minded, not samadhi in terms of full concentration like that.

Not trying so hard. Samadhi of letting go, and relaxing, and tranquilizing, and the jhanas naturally take shape. They arise as key markers on the path. So in this case, when we let go, we're deconstructing. The first jhana deconstructs the mind of the hindrances. The second jhana deconstructs the mind of vitakka and vicara, no longer having to bring up a state.

The third jhana deconstructs the joy, the piti. The fourth jhana, in that all ceases and all there is is equanimity, mindfulness, purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. And then from there, one lets go of naturally. You don't even have to do it. It naturally happens. The mind becomes so collected. The mindfulness becomes so pure that you are losing contact with the body, and you experience spaciousness and the other formless states, and so on.

So that's the real difference. One is constructing and concentrating, and the other is deconstructing and letting go and letting things naturally arise. Anne, you had your hand raised. So we cover a lot of territory in a single talk, and everything is so nuanced. And in the beginning of the talk, when we were looking at those barriers, the conceit and the negligence, I thought those were interesting, side and arrogance and negligence, vanity and negligence. All of those kind of have a similar flavor, in that, presenting of self, a flavor of presenting of self. And I was contemplating this, composing yourself to present into the world. You don't want to be a slob, because you'll get misconstrued, unless you are a slob.

And then there it is. But it's so nuanced, because you don't want to be. I mean, a monk has to have this robe on, right? There's a correct way to do it. So otherwise, it's disrespectful of the whole sangha to not put your robe on. So I think there's a lot of nuance, and because that's not vanity.

That's respect. And so this is interesting to me, all these different ways of describing. I just wanted to put that on the table, because we lay people are always dealing with entering into the world and presenting ourselves there. How do you show up? How do you show up in the world? How do you show up? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. I think again, you know, just to add to what you're saying, which is great, is the intent. Are we showing up because we want to show off, or are we showing up because it creates a sense of, you know, pristine quality? It creates an uplifted mind. We're doing it because it helps to bring up more mindfulness, more clarity. We have a bunch of questions and comments here.

Let's see. He skipped over the, where did it go? He skipped over the formless jhanas in the sutta, went right from equanimity to cessation of perception. Well, I mean, he didn't really mention the jhanas, but it's implied, and this is how I'm interpreting it. And you have to understand there are only the four jhanas. The formless realms are an extension of the fourth jhana. So one can attain the fourth jhana, and from their experience cessation, one can attain the first jhana, and from their experience cessation. It's not necessary it has to be in that particular sequence, but you have to go from the first to the eighth. It's easier from the eighth to get to cessation, because things are so quiet and you're in either perception or non-perception, so it's very easy for the mind to just drop all mental formations. Would you kindly go over the different kinds of conceit briefly? I would love to, but I can't. I have to bring up, I think there's something like

40 kinds of conceit, that's the number I'm getting, but it might be more or less. But there is a document somewhere in the libraries of Dhammasuka, which you can look at. I'm not sure. I was looking briefly, and I'm not sure I can find it, but I'll... All right, I'll share it with you guys, and you can send it next time, or you can send it to the WhatsApp group, if people want to look at it.

How does acceptance compare to dispassion? Dispassion, viraga, that is a fruition of, let's say, equanimity. We have deep equanimity, that you see things as they are. And we have to understand that the near enemy of equanimity is indifference. So indifference is: there's a resistance, I don't like this, so I'm going to ignore it. I'm going to be indifferent to it. I'm going to pretend it doesn't affect me. But real equanimity is: oh, I see this, here I let it be. That's acceptance. That's fine, it's okay, and my mind remains unstartled, unshaken by it. And that equanimity is the fruit of having tranquility and collectedness, and those are fruits of having sukha, right? And that sukha is the fruit of having piti, and so on. So there is a progression in which these things relate to things like equanimity. So acceptance may be, let's say, related to equanimity, because you accept things as they are, you see things as they are. Dispassion is you remain so unaffected that whatever is coming in the meditation just slides, glides away, doesn't hold any impression.

doesn't leave behind any residue this is the way i would explain it uh tabish you have your hand raised hello sir i would ask a question from page number 11 in the mind without craving so it's written is the scene the thing that you are grateful for in this life what should we meaning as a layman person and what should we see so on the very service level when you say things that we're grateful for uh things like having our family people in our lives the things that we possess all of those things but on the deeper level the virtues that we possess the last time we were generous like that uplifts the mind the last time we you know uh when somebody said something of ill will towards us we forgave them that's being grateful for that so grateful or gratitude here can be on the surface level things that i possess people that are in my life relationships that i've cultivated it but on a deeper level recollecting my virtues recollecting the times that i've been keeping to kindness keeping to having generosity

And when I have that, and I recognize the good in myself, loving kindness naturally arises. So, one more question, sir? Yeah. So there should be a personal knowing of the spiritual friends, or we can take anyone, means for anyone who is alive, of the same sex, and is not a relative? Yes, it's not necessary that you personally know them. But somebody that you may admire and respect, even in the public life, somebody that, when you think of, gives an immediate smile to your face. Yeah, so I think about you, then it's naturally, right? So perfect. I mean, I always tell everybody I need all the loving kindness I can get. You have no idea.

uh let's see anyone else yeah that's great can you share it here and on whatsapp if possible so if people miss it here they can just get it on the whatsapp Anybody else have anything to add or ask or say? It says, regarding spiritual friends, I was told it's better to not pick someone you're close to. Well, the general instruction is not to pick somebody that is a family member, because there's a lot of history there, and sometimes family members have not always been the most wholesome for us or we've never been we've not been the most wholesome for them and they can create looking at memories it can create looking at grief and resentment and all of these things so spiritual friend here is somebody who you know you you think of them um even a best friend would be too much of a connection well then you use your discretion and see what works for you

I think perhaps that also means somebody who's not, there's no romantic kind of, yeah, that's where it gets impure. So best friend, that's great, but there's no romance there. It's just, yeah, kindness. Someone who doesn't create a lot of proliferation. I'm assuming that's a good way of saying it too? Yeah, well, if it's wholesome proliferation, I think it's okay. That's a new coined phrase, wholesome proliferation. I like taking you higher. Yeah, because sometimes you might think of a best friend or you might think of a spiritual friend, and you might think of the good things they've done. That's part of the process of loving kindness, and it's not necessarily just the feeling, but thoughts about the person that bring up the feeling, and things like that. So that's part of the vitakka and vicara, the wholesome so-called proliferation.

Oh great. So we do have the document, types of conceit. Kirsten has uploaded it to the chat if anybody wants it, and I've requested her to share it with the WhatsApp group as well, so you guys can see that. It would be fun also to hear you discuss it again. I think, okay, I can open it up, see what it's all about, jog my memory. Let me share my screen here. Let's see, here it is. Types of conceit. The one fold, where the mind feels superior: so I am a better meditator than this person, I have more generosity than this person. It's comparing one to the other and feeling superior. Twofold, where one brags about oneself and belittles others, so it's not just feeling superior.

But you've got the... you know, I wouldn't say rivalry, but probably insolence, where you feel you're superior to others. So now you're like everybody else. You know, look at that guy, he doesn't know how to meditate. Look at that guy, he doesn't know how to take the precepts or whatever. Threefold: this is what I was referring to. I'm better, I am equal to, I am worse than. What is the common denominator amongst these three? I am. See this? I am, the me-making, the my-making, the mind-making.

The ahamkara, the thing that creates that sense of I, that sense of I am separate to this and that and the other, therefore I am this, I am that, I am better, I'm equal to, or I am worse off. The fourfold conceit of identification with gains. So you just earn something in the stock market, or gambling, or whatever, hopefully not gambling, but whatever it is, so you have conceit over that. Look at me, I have this much money now, I make this much profit. Fame: look at this, I'm on YouTube, I've got these many followers, people are all fawning over me. Praise: look at this, people are talking about me, they're saying what a great teacher I am, what a great meditator I am. And pleasure: ah, this is wonderful, look at all this food that we have, look at all of this stuff that we have. And there's a conceit, there's an identification with it. But I realize when I say this, it's just words, and it is just words. It's wonderful to say these things as appreciation, but it goes back to the intention...

Is it to show off, or is it to be appreciating, oh look at all this? If it's to show off, there's conceit, because who are you trying to show off to? You're trying to find security for the I, or the being, in the form of validation and praise and appreciation. Fivefold, in relation to experiencing as an I am: that I am feeling, forms, I am experiencing sounds and smells, tastes and tangibles. Sixfold, in identifying with the functions of the six sense bases. So here it's the five physical, and the sixth fold is the five plus the mind, that I am in relation to the sixth sense base: that this is me, this is mine, this is I am, this is who I am. The sevenfold conceit of pride.

When we talked about pride a little bit, identifying with a certain kind of identity: arrogance, looking down on others due to that boastfulness. Look at me, look at me, look how great I am. Self-loathing. This is something we don't really talk about. The victim mentality: oh woe is me, look at me, I'm so weak, I don't know what to do. You know, I've got these people bugging me all the time, and I'm a victim to my circumstances. Self-loathing: oh, I don't deserve happiness, I don't deserve to be filled with loving kindness, leave me alone and let me wallow in self-pity. That's conceit as well. Overestimation: you know, I've gotten to the eighth jhana, I'm just in the first jhana. You know, I'm an arahant, no, I'm not even a stream enterer. You know, these kinds of overestimations about things. The sense of I am this is very tricky, because this formation, this sankhara of I am, arises, or is well seen, I should say, at the signlessness of the mind. The signless collectedness of the mind comes up as, oh, I am.

That I am this awareness, or I am whatever it is. When seeing that, the mind relaxes automatically, that thought self-liberates. If I connect to that thought, then it produces further proliferation, and I'm out from that state of mind, and false sense of equality. We are all equal, I may say that, but I might not feel that. Eightfold conceit arising from the eight vicissitudes of existence: the pride of gain, fame, praise, and pleasure, or the self-hatred due to loss, infamy, blame, and pain. So what is a great tool?

What is a great antidote for this? Equanimity. Developing deep equanimity. The ninefold conceit, which is the threefold conceits, which are: I am better than, I am equal to, I am worse than, experienced in three cases. Where indeed the truth is one is superior to another, but rubs it in their face, or internally rubs it in their face. Inferior, equal to that person. So in that same case, they have that pride, they have that identification, even though it is true that they are inferior to another, but feels superior.

So these are the different kinds of complexes: superiority complex, inferiority complex. Inferior or equal to that person. Is equal to another but feels superior. Inferior or equal to that person. And this can be in reference to morality, sila, practice, samadhi, or wisdom, or anything else related to Dhamma or unrelated to Dhamma. Tenfold conceit in relation to one's status.

Oh, look at me. I've got a house. I've got wealth. Wealth here. Family. I come from this particular family, you know? I come from this particular clan. Beauty. Look at my beauty. Look at how handsome I am. Look at how wonderful my hair is, my skin is, in all these things. That's all internal talk. First, education: educated at Harvard, educated at Oxford, educated at this, that, the other. Occupation: oh, I'm this particular person, I'm the president and CEO of this particular corporation, or I am, you know, a mahatera and therefore deserve this kind of respect. Creativity: oh, look at that book I wrote, look at that painting, I'm so proud of it. It's again the intention. It's wonderful to be happy about it.

But there is this sense of self that is, like, looming around it, connected with it. It's a stickiness. Knowledge: look at me, I know all the suttas, I can memorize all the suttas and tell you from wherever it comes. Learning ability: I have great grasping ability, I can just know something and tell you what it is. And ability to convey information in an eloquent manner: look at how well I speak. You know, look at me, everyone look at how I give my Dhamma talks, look at whatever it is. These are all different kinds of conceit. So when you add them up, I'm not sure what the number is, but you can do the math yourself. It adds up to something like 40 or 30 or something like that.

So those are the different types of conceit. So there is a question in the comments: what advice would you give to one when they find it difficult to sit with the conceit or other impurities of the mind that keep coming up, even after using the 6R's? Well, first and foremost, take a step back, stop engaging with it, see it for what it is. See, when we use the 6R's, or any kind of, let's say, technique to abandon something, we have to also understand the attitude behind that, the intention behind it. I feel uncomfortable with this, so I have aversion to this thought of conceit, or this impure thought. So now you're not only just dealing with the thought, you're dealing with the aversion to the thought. So if you relax and just notice, oh, here is this thought, here is this conceit, and in just seeing that, as I just said, especially when you're in meditation and you see the formation of I am, and just seeing that it disappears and you drop it, don't use the 6R's like a swatter, right? I have to do it this way constantly. Relax, take it easy, notice it, see it for what it is.

In the fire of mindfulness, in the fire of awareness, the impurity itself stops, starts burning up, and our process of releasing and relaxing finalizes that process of letting go. It finalizes the burning up. It completely disappears. But we have to sit with it in a relaxed manner, be comfortable with it. There is advice given about this in some of the files on the Damasuka web page, where it says, you know, see the hindrance for what it is. Here is a hindrance. Welcome it to tea. Have a different attitude towards it. Okay, here you are, it's all fine, I'm choosing to let you go now. But the moment I'm like, this hindrance is right here, I hate it, I don't want it, now you already have a hindrance of resistance. You have a hindrance of aversion. It's the attitude with which you deal with it that is very important.

Okay, anybody else have anything to say? We are, or we are done here. I think we can share some merit. Okay, wait, there was one more question. Do you have advice on handling relationships where the other person exhibits one of the nine conceits of superiority or inferiority? First and foremost, when you see that in another person, okay, recognize it, see it for what it is. And the moment you try to engage with that, nobody likes being criticized. Nobody likes to be told, you're doing this wrong. Nobody likes to be told, oh, I see this conceit in you, I see you being a superior jerk or whatever.

You can engage with them. You dismantle that with the brahmaviharas. You dismantle that with equanimity. You dismantle that with skillful means. Trust in your intuition to do that. So first, engage with your own mind. How do you react to seeing that? Let go of the resistance to it, let go of any judginess that might be there. And then trust in the intuition to guide you to see and use skillful means in how you speak and how you interact with them. Ours is not the job to change other people.

Ours is the job to change our own mind. Okay, let's share some merit. May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck, fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation.